The Rebel and the Outcast
by nicole813711
Summary: He was a rebel without a cause until the Terminator was sent back in time and he met HER. She was a lonely outcast, and thought of herself as worthless until she met HIM. Can she give him a cause? Can he give her a new meaning of self-worth? Can their friendship survive or will it become something more? And can they all somehow make it out alive? T2 fanfiction. AU. John/ OC
1. Chapter 1- The Outcast

**A/N: This is my first terminator fanfic, taking place during the T2 movie. I've changed the ages and dates around a bit. In this they're 14 and the events take place in the year 1995, meaning they would've been born in '81 and the events of T1 would've taken place in '80. I hope you enjoy it!**

Chapter One- The Outcast

It was a typically boring Thursday for the students at Reseda High. The halls were empty and silent. One could hear a pin drop or the sound of the creaking water pipes if they listened closely enough. The classrooms were filled with droning teachers and students sitting idly, counting the seconds left before the bell would ring which would signal the mindless march to the next class.

Inside the freshmen English classroom, the tapping scratching of pencils could be heard throughout the room, overlapping the ticking of the clock as it counted down. The tapping of a pencil could be heard, matching pace with that of the clock.

'One minute to go' thought the boy who was tapping the pencil. He was a freshmen in high school. Most of the town knew him. To the teachers, he was a rebel- a delinquent. He was always finding ways to get into trouble. To the police officers, he belonged in Juvi. There were many instances the boy should've just been hauled off to that hell hole but they took pity on the boy who was good as abandoned. To the mothers of his classmates, he was the troublesome new foster charge of the Voight's. To his 'friends', he was a great asset to their teenage rebellion.

He was a handsome boy, still on the journey from boy to man. He had dark brown hair with bangs that fell just over his left eye. He was steadily growing and currently stood at a height of 5'6" which he would leave long behind by the end of the upcoming summer which was drawing nearer than he would like. He was pale and lean, though had a decent amount of muscle mass. His eyes were his most striking feature. They were a steely blue and were calculating. They suggested that he had matured before his time, yet they still somehow retained that child-like innocence and that sparkling warmth despite this.

He sighed in frustration, tapping his pencil as he watched the clock. Out of pure boredom, he flipped the sheet of paper over to look it over once more. It had 'Survival Test' written in block letters across the top, and it was meant to lead into the new book they would be reading. He racked his brain, trying to remember the title, but could only come up with flies. 'Something to do with flies' he thought. 'The blank of flies or something like that'.

He cleared his thoughts, returning his gaze to the test. A cursory glance at his answers told him he filled them all in. He didn't bother worrying whether they were right or wrong. He didn't care much whether he flunked school or not. This test, however, he knew he had aced. It would probably the one perfect score of his entire school career. After all, survival was what he was built and trained for.

The bell rang then, ripping him from his thoughts. He checked the top of the page, making sure his name and the date was filled in. Printed in spidery, rushed hand writing was 'John Connor', his name. He took note that the date was blank and quickly filled in 'April 7, 1995'.

Grabbing his test paper, John leapt from his seat, his bag over his shoulder. He dumped his paper on the teacher's desk and rushed out of the room and across the hall to his locker. He sighed as he opened the locker, realizing that he still had one block left to go before he was free.

A hand closed on his shoulder then, and he spun around to see his buddy Tim standing there. Tim was the closest thing John has to a confident and friend. Of course, John wasn't stupid, and he would never tell Tim about the bullshit lies his mother had ingrained into his very being, despite how hard Tim worked to prove his worth.

"Hey John!" Tim said, grinning cheerily. John shot the red head his trademark smile. It was a crooked smile, his lip curling up on one side, smirkingly. It was a smile that broke many girls hearts at Reseda High. He was just the type of caring bad boys that the girls would line-up for. However, he wasn't the sort you could bring home to meet your parents- the one reason behind is ever single relationship status. Every girl could dream though, enjoying from afar.

"Hey Tim," John said laughing. Tim perked up at this, noting John's relatively good mood, and began to prattle on about what their adventures after school should consist of. John smiled and nodded, only half paying attention. John was rather good at multitasking though, a skill he had picked up on long ago, and agreed amiably at the appropriate moments.

He shuffled through the contents of his bag, extracting the book he needed for his last class before shutting the locker. He turned around to face his friend and they began walking to their final class which they shared- Biology. He joined the conversation, refocusing his attention on his buddy as they discussed the would be escapades at the arcade that night. They had just turned the corner when he stopped abruptly.

Tim kept on walking, at first not realizing his friend had stopped. When, at last, he noticed, he came trotting back to John's side, very reminiscent of a loyal dog. "What's wrong, John?" Tim asked, frowning down the hallway. He scanned the hallway, trying to figure out just what could've so thoroughly captured his pal's attention.

"Who is that girl?" John asked quietly. He had only been here a few months and he hardly knew all of his classmates. However, he was staring down the hall at, perhaps, one of the most beautiful chicks in the school. She was slightly tanned, with black hair and emerald green eyes. She wore black sweatpants, a black t-shirt and a spiked bracelet. Standing next to her was a boy, similarly dressed, and perhaps a head taller than her. They smiled at each other and spoke animatedly.

Following his friend's gaze, Tim quickly weeded out the girl who stole his friend's attention. Frowning, his friend replied, "That's Nic Carson. Nothing but trouble," he responded sharply, almost on the verge of glaring. John rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Not the guy- the girl," he reiterated, glaring at his friend. Tim simply shook his head.

"Yeah, her name's Nicole but everyone knows by now to call her Nic. As I said, she's nothing but trouble. Just stay away from her," his friend replied sharply before he started walking away. John continued staring for a moment before he turned away and started jogging down the hall to catch up with Tim.

"Why do you say she's trouble?" He asked once he caught up with Tim. "I mean, we're supposedly trouble. We're the rebels- the delinquents. How bad could she be?" He asked disparagingly.

"Look, John, you know she's trouble just for that reason when a delinquent is telling you she's trouble. She's an outcast and she's got a bad rep- worse than ours. Just trust me when I say to leave her alone," Tim replied.

John frowned slightly as Tim turned into the classroom. He stopped outside and turned around to look down the hallway. He could see her at the end of the hall, still talking to the strange boy. He frowned as the bell rang, watching as she turned down the hallway and out of sight. He walked into the classroom, his interest piqued, and he knew he wanted to get down to the bottom of this mysterious Nic Carson. Just then, his mother's words floated through his head, 'No distractions. You're too important.' With a sigh, he sat down, forcing himself to forget about her. His mother was right, regardless of whether or not the terminator bullshit was true- he needed to move on. Besides, she was trouble anyways.

**A/N: That was the first chapter. Please review and let me know what you think. The second chapter will take place a month later. Enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2- Nic Carson

__**Disclaimer: I do not own anything identifiable as Terminator.**

Chapter Two: Nic Carson

It had been around a month since the day John Connor had first seen Nic Carson. True to his word, he had forgotten about her and moved on. He continued hanging with his friends and getting into trouble. After all, somethings just couldn't change.

While he actively had forgotten about Nic Carson, he would occasionally see her in the halls. No doubt, the curiosity was still there. He wasn't sure if it would ever leave, but he stayed away. He was trouble all on his own. The last thing he needed was doing something really bad that finally got him thrown into Juvi.

However, it was on May 14th that this would all change. It was a Monday, the most dreaded day of the week for nearly all students. And it was on this day that John woke, finding himself in a strangely good mood. He felt rather refreshed and Todd and Janelle werent even awake yet, so he had the whole kitchen to himself. He ate happily before he jumped on his motorbike and rode of to school.

Once there, he quickly locked the bike up and headed into the building. He made his way to his lockers, noting that Tim hadn't arrived to school yet. Then again, this wasn't so strange as John was a tad earlier than normal. Shrugging it off, John quickly opened his locker and pulled out his History book and his gym wear, which he would need for his first two blocks of the day. He did a double check of the locker before accepting that he had everything and shut the locker.

He turned around then, to head off to the locker room and crashed into a human barrier, their heads clashing. He shook his head as he heard a few books tumble to the ground. He looked down to see a girl bending down to pick up her books. Giving a heartbreaking smirk, John bent down and snatched the books up, beating her to it. They both stood up and they looked at each other for the first time.

John was slightly shocked to see that he was staring at Nic Carson. She was wearing sweatpants and a tank top, which he vaguely noticed looked rather good on her. He immediately handed her books over, smiling warmly. Despite his friend's warning and his better judgement, he addressed her, deciding it to be a perfect time to introduce himself and perhaps assuage these nagging thoughts that plagued him.

"I'm John Connor. I don't believe we've met," he said, holding out his hand to her. She stared at him for a time and he had the vague feeling that she was sizing him up, judging him. She continued staring at him for several moments and John began to feel more and more awkward. He began having nagging thoughts, wondering if Tim was right about her. Just as he was about to pull his hand back, she reached her own out and shook his hand.

"Nic Carson," she replied. "And no, we haven't met." She pulled her had back after she shook his and she continue staring at him for a moment. Nic was a bit of an outcast. She generally tried to stay out of trouble and didn't do anything wrong. She was quiet and did well in school, garnering her favor with the teachers. Nic was a little rough and Tom-boyish. She didn't like obsessing over her hair, make-up, and clothes like the other girls. She preferred to skateboard, ride motor bikes, listen to rock music, and spend quality time with her dad. This quality time would generally consist of camping, hunting, going to the gun range, and going to the archery range.

"Well, it's nice to meet ya Nic," John replied, smiling. Nic wasn't your average girl, of course, and she was very cautious after the incident that occurred two years back. Frowning, she continued to size John up, trying to analyze him. He appeared nice but she knew his delinquent type. She knew that they were, stereotypically, insincere yet she faltered upon looking into John's eyes. They had a light in them and he appeared sincere.

"You too, John," she said cautiously, uncertain of whether she truly meant those words or not. She hesitated, her mind telling her she didn't mean them, and yet, his eyes made her want to give him a chance. She felt as if, perhaps, she should trust and give a boy other than Lance a chance for once. Perhaps, she should try to get to know him.

"I'm sorry for running into ya. I wasn't paying attention. You alright?" John asked her sincerely. He was surprised to find he meant it. Generally, he would shout a stream of curses and blow the person off but she was a mystery and it was completely his fault he ran into her. He felt distinctly uncomfortable under her distrustful gaze yet he smiled. There were a few seconds of awkward silence before she smiled. It was the first smile he had seen in a month that was directed at anyone but that strange boy, whom he later learned to be her brother Lance Carson.

"It's fine, John," she replied, smiling, and he sighed in relief, glad she seemed to be giving him a chance to get to know him. "So, are you new here? I know mostly everyone in our grade. It's odd I haven't met you before," she told him, causing him to smile slightly. He answered her question honestly, explaining his foster situation though carefully skirting around the issue as to just why he was in a foster home. He wasn't sure if he could trust her enough or not to tell her as much.

They continued talking for a while, discussing bits about themselves. He learned that she enjoyed camping and motorbikes. That had been common ground for them and led into a discussion of past experiences and of their very own motorbikes. Unlike John, Nic wasn't allowed to ride hers to school and hers was at home. John, however, began to tell her all about his and how he was saving up money to get a new one soon. He neglected to tell her, though, just how he acquired said money he was storing. Details, he decided, weren't necessary.

After nearly ten minutes of talking in the hallway, John finally grew a pair and decided to ask her the very question he was dying to ask. "Hey, do you want to cut out of school," he asked bluntly. She blinked in surprise at him before the corner of her mouth turned up in a smirk.

"I can dig it," she replied, and he opened his locker, dumping his shit in it before stuffing her books in his bag. With a shared grin, he pulled his bag onto his back, shut his locker, and they ran out of the school together.

As they dashed out, John was oblivious as he ran past Tim. Tim sighed and shook his head as he watched the two run out of the school. Glaring and sighing in frustration, Tim stalked off to PE alone, pissed at that dickwad for ditching him to go with the outcast. It was a PE day and they were playing tennis! What would he do without his partner?!

**A/N: Chapter Two is up! I have no idea where I'll be going with the next chapter so please bare with me! I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review!**


	3. Chapter 3- Cutting with Nic

**A/N: Chapter three is up! Just some lighthearted fun featuring John and Nic! The next chapter will, most likely either retell the events of the week and take place on Friday or it will skip right to Saturday where our favorite Lugnut comes in! Review and let me know what you think I should do with chapter 4!**

Chapter Three: Cutting with Nic

That day, they had cut out of school and stopped by her house to pick up her bike. She had sneakily managed to get in and out of the garage and they had soon taken to the storm drains. There, they each tried to do as many tricks as they dared without being injured. After all, they didn't want to end up in the hospital in the middle of the day caught cutting.

Nic had been surprised, to say the least. She hadn't realized how much fun John was and how great it could be to have- well, she didn't know just what to call John. She hadn't known him nearly long enough to call a friend yet, what else could he be? He was the closest thing she had to that and so, she decided, she would call him just that- a friend.

John had been surprised as well. She was a girl and yet she seemed a natural as she hopped the edges of the ramps, doing tricks of ramps they created from cardboard and wood. Even more surprising was how nice and calm she seemed. She wasn't very much trouble at all, at least so he thought. And so, he had decided to ask this very question.

"It's because of a lot of things, you see. I'm not your typical girl as so they think I'm trouble. I go hunting and stuff with my dad," she told him as they sat on the ledge overlooking the storm drain. Their legs dangled over the side as they leaned back against their bikes, watching the traffic fly by on the street opposite. "They think I'm a nutter 'cause I know how to point, shoot, and kill with a gun and bow," she added, looking sadly at John before redirecting her attention to the cars. "They think I'm crazy for who I am..." She trailed off.

"Why do I have the feeling there's more to it than that?" John asked patiently, squinting in the bright noon light. It was getting late and they should go get some lunch soon. It could wait until after this conversation though, he figured.

"Everyone has their secrets, don't they John? Why do I have a feeling there's a story behind why you're in a foster home?" She asked, making John's heart twinge. Oh yes, she had hit a weak spot of his, but he supposed he must've hit one too. Whatever else she was hiding must've been just as bad as his, if not worse. For some reason though, anger began to boil within him and he had the sudden urge to tell her exactly why he was stuck in this god forsaken hell hole.

"Not much of a secret, I suppose," John replied, scoffing. He turned and glared at the cars going by. "Mine, I mean. My mom's a nutter. Lets go," he told her before getting up and brushing off his jeans. He pulled her up and they got on their bikes in silence. "Let's go get lunch," he told her as he took off, glad to see she was following. He had only told her as much as he dared. He had wanted to spill everything to her but- if his mom had taught him one thing, it was to be cautious. Being cautious in the right situations could save your life.

They soon pulled up to the mall and parked their bikes, heading on in. They made their way to the food court where they ordered lunch and John paid. They sat down, trays of food in tow, and began to eat. They were silent for a few minutes, each mulling over the awkward conversation in their head. Finally, Nic pushed her tray away, causing John to look up and meet her eyes.

"I'm sorry John. I really am. You're right- there is more to my story just like I know there's more to your story. It's just tough to think about and it's a sore subject- kinda like your mom. I'm sorry," she told him. He nodded and gave her a wry smile, understanding what she was saying. If it was that tender and hurtful of a subject for her to remember, he could wait.

"It's fine. I understand. We've only known each other a day. I don't expect you to tell me now. I'll wait," he told her as they continued to eat. She smiled and gave him a look of thanks, the silence descending once more. They ate in peace until John decided to speak up again.

"Nic?"

"Yeah?"

"I was just thinking- wanna chill after school with me and my buddy Tim from now on?" He asked, giving her his crooked smile. She returned it, beaming.

"Sure. That sounds great," she replied and he full out grinned at this.

"Alright! Give me five," he said as they high-fived. "I think Tim and I are coming here to the arcade o. Saturday too. You should come with if you've got nothing else..." He added, trailing off.

"We'll see. I don't know if my dad had anything planned just yet. I'll check and let you know by Friday," she replied and he grinned. He noticed a security guard then, watching them suspiciously.

"Party pooper at nine o'clock," John told her, causing her to look at the guard. "Let's roll!" He shouted as they leapt up, dashing away from the security guard in pursuit. Laughing, they faked out the guard and ducked into a store.

"That was close- almost busted," Nic told him, laughing. He grinned, poking his head out of the store.

"Coast is clear- let's go," he replied and they ran back to the garage, laughing the whole way.

"Race ya back?" Nic asked as she jumped on her bike, revving the engine.

"Long as you're prepared to lose!" John shouted, darting out of the garage.

"You wish Connor!" She shouted as she pulled up next to him and they cut through traffic, skidding into the storm drains, and rode off in the setting sun.


End file.
